


Aptitude Locked

by UnleashedAltair



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Prey (Video Game 2017)
Genre: M/M, id prefer you dont read this, im only posting to work out how to do tags man, its basically just jotting down ideas, its kinda Saiouma, its v self-indulgent, squint and you miss ship, this is really bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23682586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnleashedAltair/pseuds/UnleashedAltair
Summary: Kokichi was a leader. If he didn't get to lead people, DICE, his classmates, he'd be damned if he didn't get to lead a super-secret project. Except, it traumatizes him and now he can't stop seeing shiny black blobs. Or worrying about Momota-chan because if Momota-chan is hurt, Saihara-chan is hurt.
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Kudos: 17





	Aptitude Locked

_ Fuck,  _ he thought as he finally saw the getaway plane.

_ Fuck,  _ his mind echoed when he was climbing the last stairs.

_ Fuck,  _ he looked out to the locked door behind him and to the people to his right. 

They greeted him and they left. Talos I beginning the Nullwave process behind them.

**LINE**

_~~ He wasn’t- ~~ _

_~~ Why would- ~~ _

_~~ How- ~~ _

_~~ Where was- ~~ _

_~~ Hand or no hand? ~~ _

_~~ “We’ll shake things up like old times.” ~~ _

**LINE**

The helmet lifted off. It’s gears groaned and so did the subject. The room was white. People milled around the edges but only one moved forward. Alex? It was the heavy-weighted man. The scientist that injected mirror neurons into him. Because, as Alex explained, he was a Mimic. But the helmet that came off before  _ that _ reveal is the same as the one that came off now. Confusion muddled his head and he groaned again. Alex was saying something. ( ~~“We’ll shake things up-”~~ ) Was it important? ( ~~“~~ ~~_ Can you hear me _ ~~ ~~?”~~ ) He needed to listen-

**LINE**

“Hey,” Dr. Igwe smiled, “you remembering well?” 

He looked away, not wanting to see Igwe’s terrified face endlessly gazing back at him. It’s been a couple weeks ( ~~time never mattered in Talos~~ ) since he woke up. Slowly his real memories came back to him. He wasn’t a Yu. In fact, he wasn’t a scientist. His name was Ouma Kokichi and he was the Ultimate Supreme Leader. Memories dictated that he lied (protected); they dictated that his classmates hated him. Yet, he took on the mission of approving their simulations, experiencing them himself. ( ~~Kaito’s simulation needed adjustment. His light couldn’t be smeared by Mimics.~~ ) 

Kokichi clears his throat, “My name’s Ouma Kokichi, Ultimate Supreme Dumbass.” 

Igwe’s ( ~~somber, tired~~ ) voice chuckled. “Your humor is coming back at least,” He grabbed the leader’s hand. His own hand was smaller against the scientists by who knows how long. “Your rehabilitation is going well, I assume,” Igwe adjusts his glasses. Kokichi nodded absently. They went through the motions of a checkup before stopping. There was news, the liar knew. But would he like it? 

“You’re cleared,” Igwe finally speaks, “in two days, you’ll return to class.” 

It was a laughable thought. Although he was physically prepared, mentally was a whole other beast. He could still see the shadows of mimics in the corner of his eyes. So afraid that people were mind controlled. He couldn’t- he wouldn’t even want to begin to go to class. What if he saw a phantom? Kokichi had the urge to run around sometimes. ( ~~Keep moving-~~ ) The only life line he had right now was the same people in the simulation. Everyone he met had been modeled after someone working on the project. Whether it was scientist Alex or guard Sarah. All of them featured in the sim. Sometimes Kokichi saw people who he never saw in tact. A face that had been melted off when mimics killed them. He asked if they wanted to know about their in-sim selfs. Maybe they knew it was therapeutic when they said yes. 

Kokichi was the head of this project. He had work to do. His report for how the sim went needed to be turned in soon so the coders could continue their work. After the bugs were resolved, they’d send in more testers. Namely, Mika the in-sim ex-girlfriend of the player. But before all this, he needed to go to school. It had already been five weeks since he saw the Academy, five of those days spent in the sim. If he didn’t return soon, his class would be suspicious.

“Okay,” he muttered. His eyes met Igwe’s in show of acceptance. The older man scrutinized him before sighing. He left saying, “remember to visit us.” 

**LINE**

“And today, welcome back Ouma-kun!” Their homeroom teacher announced. Kokichi- who was off to the side- took a deep breath. Today he was the Supreme Leader. Not a Yu. Not the head of a secret project. The liar took three confident steps in and grinned wildly. Confident, graceful, loud. His smile disturbed several of his classmates. Thankfully, Amami-chan seemed fine with it. The class groaned.

“Vacations over!” Kokichi chirped and skipped to his desk. He settled in and poked Saihara-chan in the back. The detective in questioned squeaked. Up front, the teacher continued to talk about upcoming events and projects. The leader was half listening, waiting for the announcement of his project. It was near the end that their homeroom teacher finally spoke about it. 

“As I’m sure you all know,” they started, “Hope’s Peak strives to cultivate your talents. So, to do this, they’ve created new technology to help you all become leaders of tomorrow!” Iruma-chan perked up in the back. Actually, so did most of the class, except for Yuemeno-chan who had fallen asleep. Their teacher smiled, “so they’ve created a simulation for one of you as a test run.” The class stirred again, a murmur rising. Kokichi looked away. He didn’t want to see Momota-chan’s excited face. ( ~~Would he survive?~~ ) 

“Momota Kaito, you’ll be the first!” 

**LINE**

Of course his class got to view it. It was only four weeks after announcement- nine weeks since Kokichi entered the sim. Kaito’s first run would begin today and since they were his class, they got to view it. It was Kokichi’s class too, so the staff allowed a little space for rule breaking. Chabashira-chan was talking Yuemeno-chan’s ear off and the others were paired off or in groups. The leader usually grouped himself with Iruma-chan and Kiibo but today, it felt wrong. Momota-chan was jittering in place. Saihara-chan, Harukawa-chan and Akamatsu-chan surrounded him. They seemed happy. ( ~~How? It was dangerous- there were phantoms, mimics, weavers-~~ ) So far, only the occasional glance was thrown Kokichi’s way. 

That didn’t concern him though. Shirogane-chan had already caught him staring at Momota-chan. For now, his peers were sure to think he was jealous. His hands found their way to the back of his head. The waiting room was bland, he noted. He should get someone to fix that. The lab door swung open. 

“Welcome,” Alex’s gruff voice greeted, “to the first public Prey testing.” The class echoed greetings off each other and shuffled beyond the door. The first thing they saw was a mass of computers, all with data running on them. Coders, scientists, volunteers ran amok. There was the sim chair in the middle of the room, bathed in green lights. It was a familiar sight and calmed Kokichi’s heart. He almost wanted to call them into order. But today it wasn’t him in charge. “Prey,” Alex continued from his spot near the sim chair, “is a space sim, designed to give you emotional and logical trials after your ship has gone haywire.” He gestured to the Talos I schematics besides the mimic model. ( ~~Get away before it-~~ )

“This sim will change your memories for a bit but only inside the sim itself,” the class seemed to startle, “it’s completely safe now. We tested it.” 

Harukawa-chan raised her hand, “now? Does that mean someone lost their memory in the trial run?” It occured to Kokichi that no one knew that Class 99 didn’t understand Kokichi’s talent. Didn’t know that he headed several major projects in harmony. So, Kokichi couldn’t really blame Alex for his next words even if they did give him a heart attack. “I don’t know. Kokichi, do you remember anything?” Alex joked. ( ~~It was a bad joke.~~ ) The class stopped and Saihara-chan stared. 

_ Fuck,  _ he thought again.

Kokichi stayed silent. There’s no way he wouldn’t stutter with a ( ~~fake~~ ) mimic around. His eyes dart to it and then back to Alex. Surely, he would understand. Of course he would since he was present at the therapist meetings. Oh, they would force him back to therapy for this, huh. Alex frowned, “regressing?” Kokichi fought back a smile. Not so much regression. More of a showing. Momota-chan going in seemed to raise his anxiety. How odd. Instead, he nodded and gazed over to the intercom station. Alex grumbled in response. “The things I do for you,” the scientist shook his head, “whatever, go on.” The leader quickly stepped around the class, avoiding their gazes. He’d be fine.

“Ouma-kun, are y-” Akamatsu-chan started but stopped when he reached the com. His fingers went off muscle memory and turned it on. Kokichi took a deep breath. “Goood morning, everyone!” the workers paused, “today is the big day! Our first live testing on the Ultimate Astronaut. So why?” He paused and looked at the inters lounging around. “Do I see some of you aren’t working?”

The reaction was immediate. The room burst into a messy flurry and people began typing faster. Kokichi’s punishments were famous for the humiliation it put them through. For now, Kokichi pushed the fear and anxiety away. This was work and he didn’t need that. He only needed calm precision. Taking another breath, the liar reassured himself that this run would be better than last. Kokichi would make this the safest it could be for his class’ astronaut. “I see you, Igwe! Don’t make me come over there!” Kokichi called to the man who was staring at a painting. Said man startled and rolled his eyes.

“You’re welcome to, boss!” Igwe called back before looking back at the painting. 

“I-gw-e!” the leader whined.

“Only if I get to oversee your health assessment next week.” 

Kokichi paused. On one hand, Igwe oiled the machine of workers to make work smoother. On the other hand, he came to Kokichi’s evaluation. ( ~~Igwe who he saved- who fought for the research, begged for the younger Yu to save his career-~~ ) He decided that Momota-chan should be grateful to him. Maybe owe him a few favors. Kokichi grumbled an agreement as he watched Igwe stand up and glide to a computer. This was Kokichi’s element. Brute force, bargaining, control. The anxiety still pricked at the back of his mind but it was muffled compared to the chaos of the room. The chaos that was blocked by a new body in the com station.

Saihara-chan stepped besides him. “You tested it?” He whispered, eyes bouncing from worker to worker. It wasn’t unexpected for Saihara-chan to ask him. It was unexpected for him to try and interrogate him quietly. Kokichi swallowed. His fingers covered the com, “mhm, couldn’t let others be the very first!” He shot a grin to the detective. Saihara-chan moved his fingers to cover his mouth in the typical detective position. “And you-” he paused and looked regretful, “you lost your memory?” Again, Kokichi hummed. The other boy squirmed. He seemed uncomfortable for some reason. 

“Everything?” His eyes shot back to Kokichi, “even me? The uh, the class?”

Kokichi scoffed, “no dummy! Only my name duh.” He huffed and pointedly looked away. Saihara-chan paused. The fingers on his mouth slowly removed themselves. “Right, sorry,” he smiled. 

**Author's Note:**

> im so sorry if you read the whole thing. it's unfinished and idk if it'll ever be finished.


End file.
